News 2006: BTCC 2006

David Pinkney was one of the stars of the weekend at Thruxton (3/4 June) during rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship.

Racing the Motorbase Performance Honda Integra, Pinkney battled mightily with the big teams and big name drivers to claim a fourth and a fifth place in his best BTCC weekend to date.

Pinkney has always been a master of the high-speed Thruxton circuit, having won there in the Carrera Cup, and the Motorbase team had got the Honda working extremely well over the sweeping corners and bumps that make the Hampshire track such a challenge.

"Pinkney drove like a legend and surely a podium place can't be far away," said the BTCC's leading journalist, Matt James from Motorsport News.

It could have been even better had Pinkney not been forced out of the first race after a clash with Italian superstar Fabrizio Giovanardi at the chicane. As Pinkney went to dive through on the inside, the Astra driver tried to close the door and the cars made contact. That put Pinkney out with suspension damage.

But the team quickly repaired the car in the short gap between races and from 15th on the grid Pinkney drove magnificently to work right through the pack to take an amazing fourth place after the drive of the day. In the process, he overtook works cars from Vauxhall and SEAT!

More of the same was to follow in the third race in front of live ITV1 cameras as David claimed fifth after a major battle with drivers like Rob Collard and Gavin Smith.

"He's done a great job this weekend; we're really proud of David," said team boss David Bartrum.

The BTCC resumes at Croft in North Yorkshire over the weekend of 15/16 July.